So you've literally spent no time checking what else I downvote or why I downvote things but assume that I'm targeting specific creators and/or communities?

I have spent some time looking at your downvoting patterns with HiveSQL and other large stake holders. I don't assume anything. From what I can tell, you spread out your downvotes across a wide range of users and communities. My comment is not directed at you personally.

Reading the comment below, you agree you look like an idiot for voting for a witness who uses his downvote mana on disagreement of rewards? I'm starting to think you've all lost your minds before the pandemic began.

Do I agree that I look like an idiot for voting for witnesses who use their downvotes on disagreement on rewards?
Is that a fact?
Is that what I think?
Who is assuming?

Simply because I upvote a comment or post does not mean that I agree with it.
I think disagreement of opinion, while maintaining respect, is healthy for discussions and for the ecosystem as a general principal.

If it's a disagreement on rewards, that's fine. However, this justification leaves open the possibility that some large downvoters can use this argument to cover for disagreement of opinion or in some instances abuse of the free downvote mana. What I mean here, is that when users challenge the downvotes (justified or not) they are ridiculed and have all of there recent posts zeroed simply for displaying their frustration or asking for the reason for the downvotes.

We often tell downvoters, to stop bitching, crying and ranting... instead of listening to their concerns constructively.

You and I have something in common, we both have been blessed with sizeable delegations. I think you would also agree that with these large delegations comes great responsibility.
You're one of the few downvoters that is willing to try to communicate your downvotes, that is more than I can say for other large accounts that downvote users into oblivion without so much as a single comment.

In terms of cartels, my point is that they can and do occur in DPOS ecosystems. The amount of Hive going to witnesses is not really the point. It's the concentration of Hive/HP into smaller and smaller inner groups. This would also include whales and large curation trails and with more HP deciding on what is and what isn't valued content/contributions to the ecosystem. Now, you could argue that this is simply 'aligning incentives' or another view is that this could represent the centralization of a decentralized ecosystem.